If you haven’t heard yet, Samsung has officially confirmed that it is shutting down its Samsung Messages app at the end of this year. The company has already stopped pre-installing it on new Galaxy devices, including the Galaxy S26 series, and now says it will be phased out completely in July 2026.
Samsung notes that except for emergency services or contacts, you will be able to send messages using the app until then. After its closure, the app will no longer be available for download from the Galaxy Store.
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The most natural successor to Samsung Messages, especially if you want to continue using RCS, is Google Messages. it is The official option Samsung is recommendingAnd it is currently the only widely available messaging app on Android that fully supports RCS.
Google Messages is already the default messaging app on most Android phones, and Google has been constantly adding new features over the last year to make it more capable and integrated across all devices. And with RCS support on Google Messages, you get features like reliable cross-texting with iPhones, typing indicators, high-quality media sharing, message responses, as well as built-in spam protection.
Of course, it’s not a perfect replacement for Samsung Messages. You’ll miss things like deeper chat customization (though Google is working on integrating it), better message categorization, and a more flexible UI.
And if you prefer a simpler experience, Google Messages’ Gemini integration may not be for everyone. But if RCS makes sense to you, this is your only option for now.
If you’re ready to move away from RCS completely, the messaging app almost everyone uses is WhatsApp. It is widely adopted globally, works on all platforms, and offers more features than both Samsung Messages and Google Messages. You get built-in voice and video calls, group chats, communities, message responses, and all the features you typically find in SMS-based texting apps.
As said, this is not correct. While WhatsApp uses end-to-end encryption by default recent concerns Around privacy, reports suggest that Meta employees can bypass E2EE to read private messages without the decryption step, although the company has denied these claims.
Still, if your priority is to reach as many people as possible with the least amount of effort, this is the easiest change you can make.
If WhatsApp isn’t for you, another option that might interest you, even if it seems a little strange at first, is Instagram DM. Many people already use Instagram as their primary messaging platform (me included). One of the biggest advantages is that you don’t need a phone number, as everything works through the username.
Instagram DMs are already a great place for casual conversations, quick replies, and sharing memes or posts. You also get cross-platform messaging with features like chat themes, vanish mode, and reactions in some regions, along with Facebook Messenger integration.
Of course, it’s not designed to replace SMS or dedicated messaging apps. But depending on your usage, you may realize that you are already more dependent on it than you think. That said, if privacy is a priority, Instagram may not be ideal, especially with the company Moving away from end-to-end encryption for DM from May 8, 2026.
If you’re a power user and want a feature-rich and flexible experience, Telegram is probably the best choice. Compared to most messaging apps, this is easily one of the most feature-packed options.
You get things like huge group chats (up to 200,000 members), channels, bots for automation, and support for sharing large files (up to 4GB). One of the biggest advantages is its cloud-based sync, which makes switching devices easy, unlike SMS or WhatsApp, which require you to manually transfer your data.
That said, there is a trade-off. Regular chats are not end-to-end encrypted by default, and this will require you to use secret chats. For some users, this may be a deal breaker.
If your main concern is privacy, Signal is the app you should look at. It offers end-to-end encryption by default on everything, including messages, calls, and media, and it collects minimal user data compared to most other messaging platforms.
The downside is that it is not widely used, and the feature set is much lower than apps like WhatsApp or Telegram. But if you’re convincing a few close contacts to switch, Signal is probably the safest option on this list.
All that said, there’s no real one-to-one replacement for Samsung Messages. There are some customizable SMS apps like textra And Instant SMS (Open-Source)But they do not support RCS. So if RCS matters to you, you need to switch to Google Messages. Otherwise, your options are more or less the same as listed above.
